Wright: Continuum is classic Stargate

Beware of SPOILERS for Stargate: Continuum in the report below.

Stargate SG-1 co-creator and Stargate: Continuum writer Brad Wright revealed to GateWorld that his movie is scheduled to be released on DVD in July, 2008.

“I think the summer is a great time to release a movie like Continuum,” he said. “Because it’s fun. It’s a fun movie.”

The direct-to-DVD film will feature the return of multiple guest stars, including Cliff Simon (“Baal”), Jacqueline Samuda (“Nirrti”) and, don’t forget, Richard Dean Anderson (“O’Neill”).

“In a way, it’s a throwback,” Wright told GateWorld. “Continuum is more like Stargate of old than it is going forward. It’s a good ‘ole Stargate story made as big as possible. And that, in part, is because Rick is in it. But it’s also because it is a time-travel story. Therefore I was able to bring back a lot of very familiar faces who’ve been gone for some time.”

In the movie, enemies of the Goa’uld are celebrating. The last standing System Lord, Baal, is scheduled to be executed. But before he can be eliminated, Teal’c and Vala vanish. It is soon revealed that the timeline has been altered, the Stargate program no longer exists, and SG-1’s missing personnel are now serving the enemy.

But what of the reset-button effect? If SG-1 fans only get two new stories per year, do we want one to have no lasting effect on continuity when it is finished? Wright discloses an interesting nugget that will make this time travel story different than others told in the past.

“The timeline has been changed at the end of Continuum in a subtle, but permanent way,” Wright said. “And that is actually illustrated in the final frame of the picture. You’ll see. It’s cool. Keep in mind, too, in this time travel story, what makes this subtly different than other stories we’ve done is these guys remember the old timeline.

“That’s what makes Continuum different. That’s what makes it the time travel story I wanted to do. As the movie unfolds, and as Baal’s plan unfolds, we try to get back to Earth and, granted, it’s a conceit of mine that traveling through the wormhole keeps them immune from the effects of the timeline.”

“Wormholes are a conceit, too,” he laughed.

The visual effects budget for the film is substantial. Even as he waits for the in-house effects department to have time to devote to Continuum, Brad is still coming up with shots.

“I have a sequence over the Atlantic with F-15’s and Goa’uld death gliders. … I have a freighter in the ocean crossing the Atlantic that is a visual effect. I have a lot of visual effects, and it’s going to take a significant amount of time to finish them.”

Expect the complete audio interview with Brad Wright, including discussion regarding Atlantis and Stargate: The Ark Of Truth, to be available right here on GateWorld the day after Thanksgiving!